Mitchell Marsh gets Australia contract, Khawaja among six axed
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh returned to Cricket Australia's set of 20 nationally contracted players Thursday, but there is no room for his brother Shaun or struggling batsman Usman Khawaja.
The older Marsh sibling and Khawaja were among six players axed from an organization that selectors packed with limited-overs talent to reflect Australia's upcoming schedule, specially the Twenty20 World Cup scheduled for October-November.
"With many of the squad crossing into all three formats it offers us the benefit for getting able to add specialists based on the opposition and the conditions," chief selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.
"The depth of this squad and the success of days gone by 12 months offers us that solid base."
Others dropped from the list -- which forms the core of Australia's international squads -- were Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Marcus Harris.
"Seeing that is always the case there are unlucky omissions but, however, because you aren't on the list will not mean you can't be selected to represent Australia," Hohns said.
Mitchell Marsh endured his own period found in the wilderness when he had not been offered a contract this past year but Hohns said his form showed "he includes a large amount of international cricket ahead of him as a batting all-rounder".
Prolific middle-order batsman Marnus Labuschagne was, as expected, among the brand new faces, along with Joe Burns, Ashton Agar, Kane Richardson and Matthew Wade.
"Marnus's rise provides been meteoric and well documented," Hohns said.
"Joe is a good Test match player, Ashton Agar's form in T20 internationals possesses been exceptional, while Kane Richardson possesses been fantastic in the T20 and one-day games."
Uncertainty hangs above the cricket calendar and the Twenty20 World Cup as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Australia's tour to England for three one-dayers and three Twenty20 matches found in July is in danger following the England and Wales Cricket Board delayed the start of their season until at least July 1.
Australia contracted players: Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
